Jobs and Opportunities Board of Trustees

Filmhouse (Edinburgh) Ltd. (FEL) is a charitable company established to relaunch and operate Filmhouse, Scotland’s leading cultural cinema. 

After a two year journey and significant progress in fundraising and planning, we are about to begin a major refurbishment of the premises at 88 Lothian Road, with a view to re-opening the cinema in late Spring 2025.  

FEL’s aim is for Filmhouse to be an independent, world class cinema for Edinburgh and the City Region, and a hub for the many communities that identify with its mission and purpose: to connect people with film as a life-enriching art form and leisure activity.  

Filmhouse will contribute to the common good by connecting people with the full diversity of cinematic forms and cultures, curating and presenting a wide-ranging cultural programme of films and events. Importantly, Filmhouse will also deliver formal and informal education and outreach programmes and events.  All of these activities are supported by public funds from Screen Scotland / Creative Scotland and City of Edinburgh Council.  

Filmhouse also operates an important food and beverage outlet (café-bar) through a trading subsidiary, which provides crucial income to the parent charity. 

Filmhouse is seeking to appoint around four new Board Members with skills and experience in any of the following areas: 

• Human Resources  
• Diversity, Equalities, Inclusion and Belonging 
• Community Outreach, Engagement and Accessibility 
• Education / film education  
• Fundraising  
• Marketing & communications  
• Hospitality / F&B 
• Filmmaking 

We are committed to ensuring that the Board represents a wide variety of lived experiences and cultural backgrounds. We encourage and welcome applications from individuals who identify as coming from under-represented groups due to, for example, age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, faith or belief, education, or socio-economic background and those who identify as disabled and neurodiverse.  

Trustees are board directors who as a group work with the Executive Director, Programme Director and senior leadership team to agree strategy, to provide good governance and support for the charity, and thus to enable delivery of the charity’s business plan.  More generally, the role of a Trustee is to act as a public advocate for Filmhouse locally and nationally, and to support the organisation in problem solving, strategic development and business security. 

The Board of Trustees will meet frequently (monthly) until July 2025 in order to support the process of the refurbishment, the re-opening and the establishment of the new organisation. Thereafter the norm would be quarterly but in the first year from opening it may be more frequent. We meet in Edinburgh with additional sub-committee meetings and occasional ad hoc meetings (online) if required. Remote participation is possible but we’d like Trustees to attend at least 50% of meetings in person. 

The role is voluntary. Travel / expenses will be covered when meeting in person. 

For further information about Filmhouse (Edinburgh) Ltd. please reference: 

https://filmhouse.org.uk 

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/SC753872  

The Business Plan will be provided to those shortlisted for interview. 

If you have any queries about the organisation or the role in the meantime please email the Chair: ginnie.atkinson@filmhouse.org.uk 

How to apply: Send your CV and a covering letter to the Chair, Ginnie Atkinson, at ginnie.atkinson@filmhouse.org.uk  

Please complete the EDI Monitoring Form below.

Deadline for applications: Friday 31 January 2025 

Interviews: c 14 February